"It is a happy art, the art of living together in tender love." JRM

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Jacob, day 1: a special day for a first year

There is something about watering a garden with buckets of water from the pond (because the hose doesn’t work) throughout a dry spring to make a woman deep down grateful to wake up to a fresh morning of drenching rain. If I close my eyes, I can almost see the water trickling down-down-down into the dry earth. I can almost imagine the rate of growth on the next sunny day in our small vegetable patch. How satisfying it is to be a part of all that is happening outside.

Meanwhile, inside the house this morning I have been busy cleaning and thought I would take a break to type up a little blog post. This will start a week of my oldest son Jacob as the main subject of this little corner of the internet.

Yes, this is Jacob’s week, with so many blessings unfolding for him. It really all began on Friday when he went to the store to do this:

Yes indeedy, he gave gifts to his sweetheart to mark their anniversary. One year ago he and Emily started their relationship, and such a sweet couple they make. In fact, they are currently both on the couch watching “International House Hunters” right now. 🙂

Their anniversary was Friday and we planned a beach day for Saturday. Rich was gone last week on business so I was a bit on the *worn to a frazzle* side. He would not have minded making it a family day but I asked him if we could leave six of the children home and just take Jacob and Emily. It was a most brilliant idea…the whole day from start to finish was wonderful.

(I just had to leave and come back from the school. Ethan and Grace are now home after a morning of finals).

We went to Panera for breakfast. Everyone was happy and goofy, including my husband. It was nice to see him relaxed and enjoying a day off from work. After breakfast we continued to the shore. We arrived at about 8:30 in the morning.

That’s Jacob and Emily making a sandcastle together.

I sat in the beach chair for a while reading magazines. It was such a treat to relax and not have to worry about children wandering off or getting pulled into the ocean.

The finished sandcastle.

Rich and I went on a walk down the beach. The water was cold but the weather was lovely, warm with a cool breeze. The sun didn’t start blazing down on us until later on.

They showed us their bucket of sandy crabby creatures when we returned.

We dozed in the sunshine….again, I was so grateful to just melt into the towel, knowing that there was no one that needed to be watched.

We took a foursome selfie before we left the beach for lunch.

So thankful to have kids who enjoy being with us!

Buttery lobster roll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Salt potatoes and an ice cold Pepsi (a rare treat)! Wonderful lunch. We were all good and famished and enjoyed every bite.

Then we headed into Madison, CT, just a few miles down the road, to our next stop.

R.J. Julia Booksellers…a wonderful bookstore.

There were signed celebrity photographs all over the walls. I bought a paperback, a magnet for the fridge, and some yummy chocolate.

I stopped to admire these beautifully leafed geraniums.

We drove on home because the kids had to be back by 3:30 for further adventures. But just before our outing was officially over, we stopped at Carvels for some cones. I had the Reeses soft serve. Yum!

Our day, which is a highly recommended itinerary if you get the chance to visit the CT shore. 🙂

What a simply wonderful, relaxing day you had out! I think it was a great idea to just make it the four of you. You and hubby got to have some carefree time and also quality time with your son and his sweetheart without the needs of the younger ones distracting you. I love having days out when my grown up kids are free from studies. They are all busy with university exams at the moment so I am missing those walks and other activities with them. When exams are over they will have a month free so that will be fun! I didn’t realise it wasn’t all that far for you to drive to the beach! Such lovely photos. You look so happy and healthy! Another heartwarming post, Shanda. 🙂